This week we have some great entries, with the stand out of Big Crown: Showdown, boasting some really great party game fun. Also featured are twin stick shooter, Airheart – Tales of Broken Wings, simple puzzler, Bleep Bloop, point-and-click horror goodness in Bad Dream; Coma and a disappointing arcade...

Well, it finally happened. Nintendo has us on such tenterhooks that the announcement of an announcement feels like an event in itself. Although here at NL Towers we avoid reporting on baseless rumours and idle forum speculation, now's the time to indulge our inner fanboys-and-girls.
The press release tells us to...

Nintendo’s announcement that Metroid Prime 4 was effectively being taken back to the drawing board wasn’t exactly the January surprise fans were hoping for; the sizeable delay to this much-anticipated sequel was an understandable downer for fans.
Despite disappointment, the video...

We know you love Nintendo Direct news – who doesn't? These little presentations have long been Nintendo's way of updating us on forthcoming games or revealing entirely new ones, so it's little wonder that everyone gets excited by rumours of new broadcasts, and when they might air.
Practically since 2019 began, we've...

With Disney Infinity, Skylanders and Lego Dimensions falling by the wayside in recent years, toys-to-life seems to have reached its natural conclusion. Much like the plastic instrument peripherals of a decade ago, consumers have had enough after filling their homes with plastic...

Sensible Software is a studio embedded in gaming history for many reasons outside of the admittedly immortal Sensible Soccer. Along with the Canon Fodder games – the destructive sibling of Sensible's popular football sim – the company's commitment to the 16-bit Amiga proved that, sometimes, you can achieve impossibly addictive gaming...

We've reached the weekend once again and, as is tradition, the Nintendo Life team has banded together to talk over all the lovely games we'll be playing over the next couple of days. We've got farming, fighting, fishing, and fun bursting out of our Joy-Con this week, so feel free to read our entries and join...

This year, Sega will release the Mega Drive Mini, its own take on the retro console craze which Nintendo has done rather well out of in recent years with the NES and SNES Classic Editions. However, it's not the first time that the SNES rival has been

For those not in the know, Aragami: Shadow Edition is a third-person stealth game that casts you as a restless warrior who is blessed with the ability to control shadows, which must come in very useful at parties and social gatherings. You may have heard of this interesting title thanks to its...

Picture the scene; it's the mid-'80s, the American home video game market is in the pits, and Nintendo – an upstart Japanese company that only really has Donkey Kong to its name in terms of global commercial success – is trying to sell consoles to people who still remember the video game crash of...

The good news is that there are no real stinkers this week, as we try to get you some of the cream of the crop, with the occasional warning to steer clear. Let’s take a look in detail.
Black & White Bushido:
A unique concept that provides some genuinely fun local multiplayer gameplay, Black and White...

Peter Molyneux has been called a lot of things during a career which has now spanned four decades, and as we sit down for our chat it's easy to tell he's keenly aware of his reputation. "This is the first press thing I’ve done in quite a long time, I think," he says, before thanking us for our patience...

Three years ago, as we approached the reveal of Pokémon’s seventh generation and its 20th anniversary, we looked back on all previous six generations of Pokémon. Now, three years later, as we approach the end of the seventh generation and the inevitable reveal of the next generation, it’s time to look...

When the Super Famicom hit Japanese store shelves at the end of 1990, it was accompanied by a host of particularly strong titles that did a superb job of communicating the power and versatility of Nintendo's new platform: Super Mario World, F-Zero, Pilotwings, Final Fight; these were arguably...

And just like that, the first month of 2019 has already whizzed by. It might be a traditionally quiet month, but this January still packed quite the punch on the Switch's eShop with some truly great picks to choose from.
These awards aim to celebrate the best of Nintendo's digital store, giving some love and...

Once again, we've successfully made it all the way through the week to the glorious weekend. As is tradition, Team Nintendo Life has gathered together to talk about our weekend plans, this time featuring friendly tournaments, dungeon-crawling, TATE mode goodness, and planty fighting machines. Feel free to give...

Earlier today, we reported on a rumour from Japanese outlet Nikkei that suggests what many of us have been expecting for quite some time now: Nintendo is working on a smaller, cheaper Switch console and it may even be coming early this year.
This isn't exactly groundbreaking news; Nintendo has a...

Ed Annunziata's career spans all the way back to the early '90s, and includes titles such as Spider-Man, Chakan: The Forever Man, Cyborg Justice and Kolibri, all games that appeared on Sega hardware. However, his name is most closely associated with the groundbreaking Ecco the Dolphin, a 1992...

Can you believe it's February already? 2018 was an amazing year for the Nintendo Switch with the console enjoying bumper sales at Christmas, and January got off to a strong start with the delightful New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe and Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes leading the charge.
So what's next for Switch? We've...

"It’s important to us that we make games we’re truly passionate about"

It's fair to say that Wargroove has been near the top of many of a Switch owner's 'most wanted' list for quite some time; it was initially revealed way back in February 2017, the same month the console was launched. Right from the off, its eye-catching visual style and...

Super Bowl LIII is upon us all! This Sunday, the New England Patriots square off against the LA Rams for NFL supremacy. (As a Seahawks fan, barf.) It’s anyone’s guess who will take it all, but in the meantime, we can read the digital tea leaves with video game simulations. Ain’t the future grand?
While, yes, EA Sports’s...

This week we have a game heavily influenced by WWII, one paying homage to the writings of H.P Lovecraft and one with a visual style based on 15th-century wood carvings. If that doesn’t cement the level of variety and creativity in the indie scene, then we don’t know what does. Let’s dive in…...

One of several upcoming Switch games which has really grabbed our attention over the last few weeks is Observer, a psychological horror heading to the console later this year. We were lucky enough to be invited to Kraków, Poland for a quick snoop around the Bloober Team office (and by "we", we mean Alex - the lucky...

If you picked up Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes and are looking to give those bugs a sound thrashing, we've got some tips to get you on the right track. It's not the most complex game, but it's easy to get stuck in a rut and forget the variety of options at your disposal to approach each encounter. As well as general pointers...

Singapore-based Virtuos is a studio that has already made quite a name for itself on Switch thanks to its superb ports of L.A. Noire, Dark Souls and Starlink – a trio of third-party efforts which have done much to enhance the library of Nintendo's hybrid system.
However, the company's next project could be...

It's Saturday (unless you're reading in this in the future, of course) which means that it's time for yet another weekend Talking Point. As always, we've rounded up various members of the Nintendo Life team and forc- *ahem*... kindly asked them to share their weekend plans, so make sure to give them a read...

Recently we were invited down to Kraków, Poland, to have a bit of an old hands-on with Observer, courtesy of its creator, Bloober Team. After Layers of Fear scared the nonsense out of us, we had high hopes for this new game, based on the promise that it builds heavily on what Bloober's previous Switch game...

The wonderful thing about the indie gaming scene is that it allows game developers to embrace their bizarre, deep-seated desires for game ideas, seemingly with no creative limits. Thus, we have Clock Simulator, a rhythm game that literally has you take the role of Father Time in an array of odd minigames. We also...

What do you do if you’ve been fighting with the same people for 20 years? If you’re Nintendo, you hand out some weapons, get an announcer, and invite your friends over to watch.
The Super Smash Bros. series, Nintendo’s perennial Saturday-morning-cartoon take on how fighting video games can work, turns a whopping 20...

Masaya is a studio that is closely associated with the strategy RPG series Langrisser, a franchise which went head-to-head with Nintendo's Fire Emblem in the '90s. However, the company – via Career Soft, one of its internal teams – had been dabbling in this genre for some time before that, releasing Elthlead (PC-8801,...

Congratulations everyone, we've made it to yet another weekend! As is tradition, members of Team Nintendo Life have gathered together to talk about our weekend plans. Featuring games ranging from Mario's latest platforming adventure to digital versions of trading card games, you can find our entries below...

'Convergence' is a word that has often been mentioned when it comes to consumer tech, and we've seen firsthand how it can manifest itself; the smartphone that many of you will be reading these words on right now is a wonder of convergence, as it has made the camera, PDA, MP3 player and (for some people) portable...

With Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey having released recently on the 3DS, we felt it was high time for a closer look at the now decade-old DS classic. We were lucky enough to get the chance to sit down with the teams from Nintendo and AlphaDream to discuss what it's like...

Never has the Nindie round up seen such diversity in its games. A real medley of genres here with the SSX-inspired Snowboarding: The Next Phase, a somewhat clunky, yet still altogether enjoyable dungeon crawler in The Keep, some fast-paced and frantic retro fun with Horizon Shift ’81, well thought out and...

Keen readers of the site will know that we're always on the lookout for ways to make vintage hardware look as good as possible on modern-day TV sets. Years ago, we dabbled in the world of scanline generators such as the SLG3000, and more recently we sang the praises of the OSSC, a device...

While it's by no means written in stone, a recent datamine suggests that we may soon be playing SNES games on our beloved Switch consoles via the wonder of Nintendo Switch Online.
The games uncovered in this datamine are Super Mario Kart, Super Soccer,

After a trailblazing 2017, Switch has enjoyed an equally impressive sophomore year, albeit one that was perhaps lighter on first-party hits and had more robust eShop and third-party support to make up for it. The console continues to sell in decent numbers and, with 3DS fading from contention, is likely to become Nintendo's...

We've reached yet another weekend, which can only mean one thing: it's time for the Nintendo Life 'What Are You Playing?' feature extravaganza! Are we overselling it? Maybe.
Anyway, as always, expect to find members of the team discussing their weekend gaming plans in our lovingly-crafted paragraphs below. If...

System transfers have been a thing for a goodly amount of time now for Nintendo consoles. Gone are the days when all your lovely gubbins was held on a game cartridge or (gasp) memory card. Now when you get a new version of a console, be it for new features, a different form factor, or just some charming Pikachu and Eevee...

There's no denying the fact that the 3DS has been a key hardware release for Nintendo. Not only has this plucky handheld seen some of the best Nintendo games in recent memory – including The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Mario Kart 7, Super...

When it comes to getting the best possible image quality out of your retro console of choice, you usually have to jump through a few awkward (not to mention expensive) hoops. That was certainly the case with the GameCube until very recently; the best way of running the system in the past was via Nintendo's own SCART (if you're in...

This week’s indie offerings show the variety of quality available on the eShop with standouts like the Metroidvania platformer Fuedal Alloy, the emotionally-driven and heartfelt Bury Me, My Love, and the Dark Souls-inspired Animus: Stand Alone all flying the flag for quality content on the indie scene. At the less...

The games industry is all about cycles – perhaps more so than any other sector of the tech business. The constant evolution of gaming hardware means that gamers have become accustomed to upgrading their consoles every five-or-so years, putting aside the glorious memories of one...

Evolution items in Pokémon GO aren't anything new – we've had items like Metal Coat and Dragon Scale for ages – but the recent introduction of the Sinnoh Stone has caused quite a stir, mainly because this exclusive item is the only way to evolve several different 'mon into more...

With 2018's Game of the Year awards now well and truly handed out, it's time to return to our usual, monthly Nintendo Life eShop Selects. Don't worry December, we hadn't forgotten about you!
These awards aim to celebrate the best of Nintendo's digital store, giving some love and attention to the games that could...

Here we are once again, happily lounging around for another weekend of gaming bliss. As always, team Nintendo Life has gathered around our enormously large table of chatter to discuss our weekend plans, sharing the games we hope to get stuck into and even some stories of picking up great games on sale. Feel...

We’re starting 2019 off in the right way with some stellar indie games in our second Round Up this week, accommodating for a lack of a Nindie Round Up goodness over Christmas. We have brilliant party action in Catastronauts, Wondershot and Oxyjet, some manic, shoot 'em up fun in Overdriven Reloaded: Special Edition,...

One of the most annoying things about collecting and playing vintage games is the cost. While a great many classic carts are available at cheap prices on the second-hand market, the most desirable examples are rising in value all of the time, which means many people simply don't bother with physical games...

2018 was an amazing year for the Nintendo Switch, with so many great games getting released on the portable powerhouse, not least of which was Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in December.
So now that the Christmas tree has been taken down and you've vowed to not look at another mince pie for...

In a spectacular turnaround from last generation, Nintendo’s newest console has hosted a wide variety of third-party titles since launch, many of them ports and several of them genuinely surprising; could anybody have predicted Wolfenstein II would come to a Nintendo console, and a handheld one at that? We’ve seen...

After a barn-storming 2017 with both Zelda and Mario arriving on the console, Switch’s ‘difficult second’ year has been notable for a few things: the belated launch of the online service in September, the recent one-two punch of Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! and

Happy New Year folks, welcome to 2019. Pretty good so far, isn't it? You've probably noticed, but over the past couple of weeks we've done an awful lot of retrospective articles, looking back over the previous year and reminiscing with a cosy feeling of hindsight. Well, that all ends right now; it's time to look forward and...

After an absence for the holiday period, the Nindie Round Up is back for a double whammy this week to see you into the new year. Today’s entry gives us three puzzle games with varying degrees of quality in Solar Flux, Dreamwalkers and Bring Them Home; the standout title of the week, Rain World - a...

Yesterday, we revealed which games took the staff votes in our Game Of The Year; today we reveal your results. We've had over 15,000 votes this year, which is by far our widest ever pool. Thank you for taking the time to vote!
The votes were cast in each category with a 1st, 2nd and 3rd ranking system. Ranking a game 1st gives...

After an extraordinary first year on the market, which saw it smash sales expectations and play host to some amazing games, the Nintendo Switch could have endured a torrid sophomore slump in 2018. However, that wasn't the case and the console's commercial success was maintained for the majority of...

It's the final day for you to cast your Game Of The Year votes, you have until midnight today (Sunday) to vote, this is your final warning - no complaining if you don't vote.
In the meantime, let's look at which games our members of staff voted for across the very same categories. This year we decided to create categories for...

So you've got yourself a lovely new Nintendo Switch for Christmas and don't know how to even begin setting it up? You've come to the right place!
In this guide, we're going to break down all of the things you should do first to help you get set up. That includes setting up a bunch of new accounts, getting the settings right and...

No, you're not suffering from déjà vu; this article originally appeared on the site in August this year, and we're republishing it as part of our 'Best of 2018' series which celebrates what we feel were our finest features of the past twelve months. Enjoy!
Kenichiro Tsukuda knows...

It's the end of the year, a time of reflection, so today we're going to look back over the last 12 months of reviews across Nintendo Life. Reviews are our "bread and butter" so to speak, but have become quite a challenge for us as a team. The sheer amount of games currently being released means it's almost impossible to review everything;...

The inside story on the game launch that made $50 million in a single day

No, you're not suffering from déjà vu; this article originally appeared on the site in September this year, and we're republishing it as part of our 'Best of 2018' series which celebrates what we feel were our finest features of the past twelve months. Enjoy!
September...

After looking at which Wii U games and 3DS games we would like to see make the transition to Switch, we drank even more moonshine and really started dreaming, looking back even further and imagining which games would be ripe for the HD remaster treatment from Nintendo's entire back catalogue.
Before we begin, let's clarify...

No, you're not suffering from déjà vu; this article originally appeared on the site in September this year, and we're republishing it as part of our 'Best of 2018' series which celebrates what we feel were our finest features of the past twelve months. Enjoy!
Flashback time. My friend had...

We recently looked at which final Wii U games we'd like to see make the transition to Nintendo Switch, the other natural candidate for ports is Nintendo 3DS, which is now deep into the twilight of its lifespan.
So, before we put our 3DS consoles into long-term storage, I started thinking about which games from its vast...

No, you're not suffering from déjà vu; this article originally appeared on the site in June this year, and we're republishing it as part of our 'Best of 2018' series which celebrates what we feel were our finest features of the past twelve months. Enjoy!
Here is a sobering thought. It’s been twenty...

Update: please remember to vote, you have until midnight (UK time) Sunday to cast your vote.
Can you seriously believe it's been a year since the 2017 Game of the Year awards? That's right – it's time for everyone to come together yet again and decide on their favourite games of 2018.
This year we'll be doing things a little...

Ah, poor Wii U – you’ve got to feel for it. Through bungled messaging and almost total non-support of its unique asymmetric gameplay, Nintendo launched the ship without a compass into an ocean littered with pointy icebergs ready to pierce her glossy white hull. Despite releasing some excellent...

No, you're not suffering from déjà vu; this article originally appeared on the site in August this year, and we're republishing it as part of our 'Best of 2018' series which celebrates what we feel were our finest features of the past twelve months. In this special one-off piece, reader Alex...

Chris Scullion recounts how the NES altered his destiny one festive morning

It was the summer of 1987.
My aunt had fallen in love with an American chap and moved to the States to marry him and live there. And so, my family – including a 4-year-old me – flew out from Scotland to Parma, Ohio to visit them during the summer. That was when I saw...

No, you're not suffering from déjà vu; this article originally appeared on the site in July this year, and we're republishing it as part of our 'Best of 2018' series which celebrates what we feel were our finest features of the past twelve months. Enjoy!
There’s a good chance that many of...

It's Christmas, which might mean snow wherever you are in the world. However, not all of us are that lucky, and sadly have to settle for rain or – gasp! – ghastly sunshine instead. Fear not, though – there is a solution: playing winter-themed levels in your favourite games.
Christmas is the best time for it too, as you're...

No, you're not suffering from déjà vu; this article originally appeared on the site in June this year, and we're republishing it as part of our 'Best of 2018' series which celebrates what we feel were our finest features of the past twelve months. Enjoy!
Nintendo – perhaps more so...

The humble Game Boy is probably older than many of the people reading these words right now, but it nonetheless remains an utterly iconic piece of consumer tech. Since the start of the Game Boy line way back in 1989, the range has undergone several revisions and has sold millions of units all over the...

Nintendo Switch Online has two different membership options: Individual and Family. Individual is ideal for households that only contain a single Nintendo Switch, but those that have two or more will save money by opting for a Family.
A Nintendo Switch Online Individual Membership costs $19.99 / £17.99 annually, though...